With the Bucs on bye this week, it was nice to relax and casually watch other games. I’m looking forward to Wednesday when the team returns to practice and injury reports become public. Hopefully, we won’t be facing the M.A.S.H. unit we had right after the game against the Saints. Fingers crossed we’ll see a few players back on the field!
While watching this past weekend's matchups, I was surprised to see the Panthers lingering just 1.5 games behind the Bucs for the NFC South lead. Their upset victory over the Packers solidified their standing, while the Falcons seem to be losing grip on any hope for the division or even a Wild Card spot.
Despite some embarrassing losses this season—including a 26-10 defeat to the Jaguars, a 42-13 loss to the Patriots, and a 40-9 blowout by the Bills—the Panthers currently hold a 5-4 record. They have a good chance to catch up, especially with two games still to play against the Bucs—one in Charlotte and one in Tampa.
How the Bucs perform over the next three weeks could set us up for a strong end to the season. If we can secure two wins in those games, we should maintain a division lead with six winnable games ahead. On the flip side, the Panthers would love to be within one game of us heading into the final three games of the season, two of which will be against the Bucs, giving them a chance to control their own destiny.
One challenge for the Panthers is their remaining schedule, which includes tough matchups against the 49ers, Rams, and Seahawks, in addition to the two games against us. The Bucs, meanwhile, face the Patriots, Bills, Rams, and an unpredictable Cardinals team. Looking closely at the schedule, it’s clear that this weekend’s game against the Patriots is crucial. They’re a solid 7-2, but it’s a game we should win at home. If we don’t, things could get dicey, and we might find ourselves relying on those two games against the Panthers at the end of the season.
I’m not entirely looking past the Falcons, but if they don’t pull off a significant upset against the Colts this week, they’ll be sitting at 3-6. With games against the Seahawks and Rams still on their schedule, plus matchups against the Bucs and Panthers, their chances of turning things around are dwindling.
Ultimately, all of this is moot if the Bucs can take care of business and win the games they should. They’ve positioned themselves well by winning 6 of their first 8 games, but early season success doesn’t guarantee playoff success. The teams that win it all are the ones peaking at the end of the season. So where does that leave us?
With all our injuries, will we have enough to keep improving? Even though we beat the Seahawks five weeks ago, are we as good as they are today? And while we lost to the Eagles in September, with their locker room challenges and our favorable matchups, could we actually be better than them now? Regardless, there are still many games left to play. Mid-season leaders often falter—just look at the Colts yesterday. I hope we haven’t seen the best of the Bucs just yet!
The biggest competition will be injury bug. If the Bucs can overcome injury bug, they have clear sailing for the NFCS title.
We probably split with the Panthers. I don't know that it matters much then though because the Panthers hopefully struggle is some of their upcoming tougher games.
so hard to say though. It's the NFL
it looks clear that the Panthers will be the only team to challenge us for the division
Falcons have pretty much collapsed and with games remaining against the Colts, Seahawks, Bucs, and Rams, they very well could be looking at another losing season.
Carolina sits at 5-4 with a game against the Saints coming up. They then have Falcons, 49ers, and Rams. So they could be looking at 6-7 or 7-6 prior to finishing the year with 2 games versus us, the Saints and Seahawks. I think they'd be hard pressed to get to 10 wins.
Depending if and who we get back this week, will determine if it gets interesting. If no Bucky, Godwin, or Geodeke for the next 3 games, yeah, we can likely go 0-3 and sit at 6-5. Not ideal...but this team should be no worse then 11-6 and to me that would be disappointing given the 6-2 start.
This week is the most winnable of the next 3 games so hopefully the Bucs capitalize as home favorites. A win this week and the division is about wrapped up.
but this team should be no worse then 11-6 and to me that would be disappointing given the 6-2 start.
agreed
The NFL is tough to predict. Razor thin margins to begin and the insane impact of injuries. Most fans puzzled by the Egbuka pick, but where would the Bucs be without him. Think you're a good team, lets see when we wipe out your O-line . . .
The Saints might find their footing because OL shuffles due to injuries have slowed them down unlike the Bucs that keep chugging along despite OL injuries. They have a chance of being a .500 ball club if their veteran defense tightens up and gives their rookie Shough time to develop.
The Panthers are going to be a clear .500 ball club because they have an improving defense, run game and are built to grind out games under Canales watch. Not sure what more they can do as they probably need another off season to add talent to their defense again. They can truly be a spoiler for many playoff teams vying for spots in the NFC.
The Falcons should be better than what their record indicates and on paper their talent on defense should be the best in the NFC South. But, they have fundamental flaws with their offensive play calling and design. Meanwhile, Mooney seems back to being a fringe WR which means London has to carry a heavier load which is tough without a competent WR opposite of him. Bijan can do only so much to impact the passing game.
For the NFC title...Lions or Eagles. As far as have we seen the best 2025 bucs, hopefully not. In theory we should be an offensive juggernaut when healthy but Im not sure I love Grizz's offense thus far.
This week is the most winnable of the next 3 games so hopefully the Bucs capitalize as home favorites. A win this week and the division is about wrapped up.
From a matchup standpoint, this statement is simply not true.
and your WR1,WR2,WR3… and RB1…but this team should be no worse then 11-6 and to me that would be disappointing given the 6-2 start.
agreed
The NFL is tough to predict. Razor thin margins to begin and the insane impact of injuries. Most fans puzzled by the Egbuka pick, but where would the Bucs be without him. Think you're a good team, lets see when we wipe out your O-line . . .
Maybe we get Bucky & JMac at some point during the regular season, but at this point, the losses of Mike & Chris have yanked the “juggernaut offense” tagline from under our feet…
IF we were to get JMac & CG back, we could open up the offense behind a reconstituted o-line, which would free up Egbuka and make us multiple on a more consistent basis. Sustaining drives would help keep our defense off the field - and allow them to play to the aggressive nature of the defense.
A Bucky-led run game would sure help that, too.
If not, 11-6 would be my guess.
@white-tiger - we showed against the Seahawks and 49ers, that with the right play calling, this offense without Bucky and Godwin, can put up plenty of points. It’s going to come down to Grizz. If he goes into first down run mode (or instructed by Bowles) all first half. We will lose this game, and probably the next three. Call it like you did against the Seahawks. We saw more play action on first down that game than we have since last year.
While my comment above was more specific for the rest of the regular season, I know what you’re saying. I called for wins prior to both games.@white-tiger - we showed against the Seahawks and 49ers, that with the right play calling, this offense without Bucky and Godwin, can put up plenty of points. It’s going to come down to Grizz. If he goes into first down run mode (or instructed by Bowles) all first half. We will lose this game, and probably the next three. Call it like you did against the Seahawks. We saw more play action on first down that game than we have since last year.
However: CG was active (mostly as a decoy), and Baker was mobile (and lethal) and able to get outside of the pocket and find escape lanes against the Seahawks (and 9-er’s). Seahawks secondary was banged up. And the 9-ers were also limping into the game before they lost Fred Warner.
Buffalo’s secondary is healthier - but not as strong as some others we’ve played. If a healthy Geodeke is back, then I’m more optimistic, depends on how healthy he is. Is Baker mobile? We’ll see. Baker admitted the oblique injury contributed to those wildly inaccurate passes vs Detroit and NOLA - he talked about it, so maybe he’s over it? We’ll see.
what was left of this team ran into a Mack truck in Detroit. We got out of NOLA with a win, and no further injuries, but Baker was also reported with a knee issue. Is a week off enough to clear the immobility?
IF Goedeke is good, IF Baker is good, we have a chance to win. But the next-guys-up have now seen a lot more activity and been banged around more also. The bye came at a good time, so maybe that’s resolved itself.
Grizz has shown flashes - but also some clunkers… and Vrabel is no slouch - I think it’s a toss-up game.
I think Drake Maye has been very good, mostly consistent. He’s shown some great resiliency with blitzes. Can the Buc defense confuse him? Buffalo couldn’t.
This game will yield answers - I’m hoping we bounce back - just don’t know if we have enough ponies yet.
Maybe. I think we have a chance, maybe expectations are not high.
